The Under 18 season has started and despite being incredibly busy, George Champion managed to spare us some time this past week to chat about the opening weeks.
The season has finally arrived, has it felt like a long wait to get started?
“Yes and no. The break between the end of the season and the summer gave us some time to reflect on our first season at the club, assess what players we needed to bring in and establish a clear target alongside the club’s idea’s and philosophy. The eight weeks of preparation was great to work out certain things and recruit what players we needed to fill the void left by those who are now too old to play U18’s football.
Our aim is to be THE destination for the best talent in the local area. To that end, we are constantly recruiting and looking to improve where we can, which can be painful, however, I’m really pleased with the two lads we’ve signed from Ascot United in the last week – Zach Woodford and Harry Evans. They bring experience at this level and the quality I believe we need to keep aiming towards our targets as a group.”
You’ve added Oli & Charlie Reid to your management team, how did that come about?
“A strange sequence of events… it actually came about during the First Team End of Season break in Ibiza. We were sat there and Oli asked me whether he could be involved in the coaching with the U18’s as it would aid his studies at university, and he wanted to remain connected to the set up and keep emphasising the player pathway we have at the club. After a few more discussion, Oli came on board.
Charlie Reid had a fantastic second half of the season last year, netting eight goals in 11 games and has really adapted well to his coaching role. Discussions were fairly similar, I knew Charlie had a good knowledge of football and centre forward play and we wanted that experience in the group.”
A couple of cup exits – disappointed more about being out of the cups or not getting the extra matches by winning?
“Of course, it is always disappointing to exit two cups in that way when you’re at a club like ours. The standard and mentality set by the club is to win. We believe that these lads will develop better in a winning environment and that is what we emphasise. The plan has always been to develop the group this season and really push on and be competitive next season when we’ve got all the pieces to the puzzle.
Unfortunately, those two games weren’t to be. The FA Youth Cup game was a challenging one. We dominated for 90 minutes, playing our brand of football, but silly mistakes cost us the game. These are the small margins we keep emphasising to the boys. These small margins will help us win and develop them further. The League Cup exit, I take full responsibility for. We didn’t play to anywhere near the standards we’ve set ourselves in that first half and by then the game was gone. I can only apologise to those that made the journey to watch us and we will all certainly learn from that.”
An injury in the match the other night. What’s the news?
“Yeah, it’s really unfortunate to see Alex go off like that a few minutes into his debut. Huge thanks to everyone that helped Alex on the night: Totti, Mat, Mitch and the opposition bench. That is the spirit of football.
Thankfully, Alex’s injury isn’t as severe as first thought. He has a hairline fracture of his fibula and is set to be out probably until the New Year. Thank you to everyone’s kind messages, Alex and his family are very grateful.”
A tough looking run of matches coming up, but 5 of 7 at Stag Meadow, so hopefully some crowds to cheers the boys?
“It’s great to have such a good home support across all levels of the club. We’re so thankful for that and I’m sure our supporters will be there to cheer us on. It’s a tough run but the lads will be motivated by that. The group is young and has a long way to go yet but we will always try to be competitive and playing a brand of football our fans want to and deserve to watch.”
I mentioned Oli…what an example to all age groups and the path to 1st team football?
“Wow. Oli has had an incredible start to the season. He is a great example of what can happen when we all work together. We talk and work closely with a lot of coaches in the Youth Section to fulfil our ultimate goal, develop local talent into First Team players. Oli has been at this club since he was seven years old, his Dad also used to play for this club, so it is great to see him flourish in the Men’s First Team set up. He still has a lot to learn and must always remember to remain humble whilst he helps others make this journey. But there’s no doubt in my mind that he will have a fantastic career.”
